Discounted adoptions, special events and other seasonal opportunities benefit homeless DC animals
Washington, DC – The Washington Humane Society (WHS) will celebrate Hope for the Holidays November 25 through December 31, 2011. The animal welfare organization is inviting the public to participate in numerous events and activities to support DC’s homeless animals over the holiday season. To kick off, beginning on Black Friday, November 25, adoption fees on all WHS animals will be discounted by 50 percent through the end of the year. In addition, the community is invited to:
Enjoy Holiday Photos with your Pet at venues across the region throughout December, and make a donation to the WHS Toy & Treat Drive at each event to help shelter pets in need. (A Wish List is available on the Washington Humane Society website).
Visit WHS shelters for a special Hope for the Holidays event Saturday, December 17; bring a donation, meet adoptable animals and enjoy holiday décor, music and treats.
Shop WHS for stocking stuffers and gifts.
Bring a donated item to any WHS facility.
Sponsor a homeless animal at the Washington Humane Society.
“The holidays present a special opportunity for our community to support the countless animals who go without the comforts of family and home each year,” said Stephanie Shain, Chief Operating Officer, Washington Humane Society. “We wish that Hope for the Holidays will encourage more DC area families to open their hearts and homes to deserving animals looking for their second chance at happiness.”
Today we gather around the dinner table with family and friends to share good food, warm laughter, and the happy memories of Thanksgivings past. But for many families, whose loved ones serve in the Armed Forces, this year's Thanksgiving celebration will not be complete.
A familiar voice will not be heard and a chair at the table will remain empty because, they have someone far from home serving our country.
Today also, members of the Army, Marines, Navy, Airforce and Coastguard (men and women, Active Duty, Reserve and National Guard alike) will gather in mess halls or in tents across the globe as friends and comrades to enjoy the traditional Thanksgiving meal.
So, as those of us who are blessed to be with our families celebrate and give thanks, let us remember in our prayers the homes that have an empty chair at the table and also offer a special prayer of thanksgiving. Ask God’s Blessings for the brave men and women of our Armed Forces, whose service and sacrifice will make the world a better and safer place. A very special prayer dear God, for those homes that have an empty chair that will forever remain vacant and for those servicemen and women who have come back to us, may their sacrifice not have been in vain.
God bless the men and women of the United States military, past and present, those who have fallen, and their families!
A Shar Pei puppy chews on a bone. Real bones can splinter causing problems with your pet. Dogs should be supervised when chewing on store bought bones.
Real bones can cause problems for your pet.
When serving Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow it is important to remember that contrary to popular belief, dogs should not be allowed to chew on animal bones. Bones can splinter in the throat or stomach and cause internal bleeding and pieces of bones can get lodged in a dog's throat. Pet store-bought bones are safe but dogs should be supervised when chewing on them.
For a healthy, safe Thanksgiving treat for your dog try making these peanut butter and pumpkin treats:
* 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
* 2 eggs
* 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
* 2 tablespoons peanut butter
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk the flour, eggs, pumpkin, peanut butter, salt, and cinnamon together in a bowl. Add small amounts of water as needed to help make the dough workable, but the dough should be dry and stiff so that it doesn't fall apart when you roll it.
3. Roll the dough into a 1/2-inch-thick roll. Cut into 1/2-inch-thick pieces. If you want to add an extra special touch you can mold the pieces into "bone" shapes!
4. Bake in preheated oven for about 40 minutes or until treats are hard.
5. Allow to cool. Then let your pooch enjoy!
This is a great idea, and the kids can help make them!
President Obama pardoned two turkeys at the White House on Wednesday in an annual Thanksgiving rite.
Liberty and Peace have gotten a reprieve this year. Both are 19-week-old, 45-pound turkeys, their names were selected from more than 100 submissions.
Liberty, the official national Thanksgiving turkey, and Peace, its alternate, were selected from among 30 turkeys raised and groomed in Willmar, Minn., just for a potential presidential amnesty.
This is the 64th anniversary of the National Thanksgiving Turkey presentation.
The White House says many of the ideas for names came from Minneapolis and St. Paul schoolchildren who studied the importance of agriculture to the world food supply and to local economies.
Have you ever wondered where these turkeys go after they are pardoned?
Liberty and Peace will retire to the historic home of George Washington in nearby Mount Vernon, Va. Liberty will have to endure fame and celebrity during "Christmas at Mount Vernon," a special program that runs through Jan. 6. Following the holidays, the two birds will live in a custom-made enclosure at Mount Vernon's livestock facility.
The birds are larger than the average U.S.-bred turkey. According to the Agriculture Department, the U.S. turkey industry produces more than 250 million birds a year, with each live bird averaging about 25 pounds.
So When Did this Tradition Begin?
Americans have been sending the President turkeys for the holidays since at least the 19th century. Beginning in 1873 during Grant's presidency, a Rhode Island man named Horace Vose was responsible for "selecting with the utmost care" the "noblest gobbler in all that little state" for the President's Thanksgiving dinner, a tradition he carried out for more than 25 years according to The New York Times. In 1947, the National Turkey Federation took on the role of official turkey supplier to the President, delivering a 47-pound bird in time for the Christmas holiday.
Each Thanksgiving, the President "pardons" a hand-selected turkey, sparing the bird from someone's dinner table and ensuring the rest of its days are spent roaming on a farm, doing whatever it is turkeys love to do. Twenty-two turkeys have been pardoned, and today, President Obama will pardon one more.
So then when did the pardoning start? Here's where it gets tricky. Tales of spared turkeys date back to the Lincoln days. According to one story, Lincoln's son Tad begged his father to write out a presidential pardon for the bird meant for the family's Christmas table, arguing it had as much a right to live as anyone. Lincoln acquiesced and the turkey lived.
In 1963, President Kennedy decided to send that year's gift from the National Turkey Federation back to the farm where it came from. "We'll just let this one grow," he said. Sometime around the Nixon administration, the President began sending the turkey to a petting farm near Washington after holding the traditional receiving ceremony and photo op, although no formal pardon was given.
President George H.W. Bush was the first to actually offer a turkey pardon. On November 14, 1989, he announced that year's bird had "been granted a presidential pardon as of right now." He sent the turkey on his way to the perhaps unfortunately named Frying Pan Park in Herndon, Virginia, and with that, a tradition was born.
Since taking office, President Obama has pardoned two turkeys, although in 2009, he admitted Courage, that year's top turkey, came dangerously close to gracing the White House table. "Thanks to the intervention of Malia and Sasha, because I was ready to eat this sucker. Courage will also be spared this terrible and delicious fate."
"I'm told Presidents Eisenhower and Johnson actually ate their turkeys," Obama said. "You can't fault them for that; that's a good-looking bird."
Video of Apple and Cider who were pardoned last year.
Washington, DC - A $1,500 reward is being offered for the safe return of a tiny Pomeranian who has been missing for almost two weeks. Brian Kendrick-Brown says that his little dog, Mojave was taken when his home was burglarized earlier this month. He lives in southeast Washington on Shannon Place in Anacostia.
Kendrick-Brown says a group of people kicked open his front door, and then took several televisions, other electronics, and even his winter jackets. A neighbor across the street caught the break-in on a surveillance camera.
When Kendrick-Brown returned from class at Howard University, he discovered the house had been ransacked and Mojave gone. Kendrick-Brown does not believe the dog ran away when the door was opened. He thinks the people who broke into the home took Majave.
Kendrick-Brown says if Majave is returned safely, there will be no questions asked.
There was an emotional reunion in New York on Wednesday for U.S. troops and the dogs they grew to love while deployed in Afghanistan.
CBS 2′S Cindy Hsu was at John F. Kennedy Airport, where the stray dogs finally made it home.
The hugs and smiles said it all. U.S. troops were reunited with the stray dogs they found in Afghanistan. Petty Officer Zachary Henning was deployed for a year, but it wasn’t a true homecoming until Gus made it.
“I’ve been home for 2 months and I’ve been waiting for him ever since,” Henning said. “He helped me survive out there and now I’m going to give him a home and allow him to survive now.”
Specialist Sheila Schaffer said the stray dogs give nothing but love and that’s how they’re saving lives.
“It’s not always saving from an IED or a bomb. A lot of time with soldiers, we have a lot who commit suicide from depression, it’s saving our spirits too. It doesn’t have to be a physical save, it’s a spiritual save,” Schaffer said.
Sergeant Pen Farthing is a former British Marine and adopted his dog Nowzad while serving in Afghanistan. He says the Taliban banned people from having dogs as pets.
“If it’s a male dog it may be used for dog fights, if not it’s just discarded on the street and may then just fight for scraps,” Farthing said.
So he started the animal rescue group called Nowzad that tries to save animals in Afghanistan and reunite them with service men and women throughout the world when the troops return home.
Sergeant Adam Riniker says his dog, “Freedom,” will now live a life of freedom.
“I do a lot of hunting and we live on a couple farms so she’ll probably do a lot of running and I have another dog that she’ll be running around and playing with,” he said.
After knowing only a life of war, they’re now headed home.
It would normally cost about $4,000 to get a pet from Afghanistan to New York, but Wednesday, American Airlines donated the flight flying in 14 dogs.
Living thousands of miles from family and loved ones and facing the dangers of war often take a toll on U.S. troops. But inject some of that old-fashioned unconditional love and things become just a little more bearable.
This is the kind of story that warms my heart. I hope it warms yours too!
You may know him as Robin from the Batman television series that aired from January 12, 1966 to March 14, 1968.
He and his wife Tracy are the founders of a charitable organization called Gentle Giants Rescue and Adoptions, Inc., located in Norco, California. They rescue giant breed dogs like Great Danes and some smaller breed dogs. Their work with the organization has been featured in such outlets as People magazine, ASPCA Animal Watch, Hard Copy, Inside Edition, and Entertainment Tonight. Mr. Ward was also seen in an episode of Animal Planet's Adoption Tales.
They have a great product that will help your dog live longer. Gentle Giants Dog Food is all natural and is excellent for all dog breeds, from tiny 2 lb. dogs up to giant 300 lb. Dogs. It’s great for weaning 3 week old puppies to the oldest seniors.
The caped Crusader has become the “Canine Crusader” helping dogs live much longer, healthier, happier lives!
Burt, Tracy and their giant Great Dane puppy "Minato", who stands 7' 3 1/2" tall and has two more years of growing ahead!
What makes Gentle Giants Dog Food different from other dog food manufacturers and their dog food?”
We are worlds apart from other dog food manufacturers. Dog food manufacturers are in the business to make money selling you dog food. We're in the charitable business of helping dogs live longer! Dog food manufacturers' main focus is on MAKING MONEY WITH DOGS. Here at Gentle Giants, our main focus is on ADDING YEARS TO DOGS LIVES! We measure our success by how long dogs live, not on how much money we make. Dog food manufacturers test their dog food on dogs in cages in laboratories (usually 10-15 dogs during a 1-2 week period). We've tested our dog food on thousands of dogs since 2005, feeding 600 lbs. of our all natural Gentle Giants DAILY! Who do you think has conducted more valuable testing on more dogs in a real life situation rather than testing a few frightened dogs couped up in cages in a testing laboratory?
What You Feed Your Dog - Gentle Giants World Class Canine Cuisine
Many of our dogs are living far longer than is traditional for their breeds. Our program for increased longevity combines early spay/neuter at 5-6 months of age, our special feeding and care program, and our high nutrition, balanced protein, low fat all natural Gentle Giants dog food. Because our Gentle Giants dog food is so nutritious, your dog can obtain all the nutrition he/she needs by eating less food than with other dog food formulas. This can provide your dog with increased protection against bloat and torsion, a major killer of giant breed dogs, and a killer of other breeds as well.
Longevity our physical and emotional care has doubled the lifespan of many of our fogs! Nurturing the physical and emotional needs of our small, medium, large and giant breeds. We have many of our dogs living 14 to 18 years, and some even longer! Extending your dog's life as long as possible!
Click below to read how our feeding and care and all natural Gentle Giants Dog Food can extend your dog’s life!
Watch our Doubling the life span Watch how we feed
TV spot of your dog! our dogs
All Natural Order
Gentle Giants Where can you buy Gentle Giants
Dog Food Gentle Giants Dog Food
Our all natural Gentle Giants dog food is available in retail stores
Watch How We Feed Our Dogs
New Bag Design
Their website has a wealth of information on feeding and caring for your dog. It has pictures and videos of the beautiful dogs that they rescue. It also includes pictures, articles and videos of Mr. Wade as Robin! Click here to visit their website: Gentle Giants Rescue and Adoptions, Inc.
Have you ever wondered…whatever happened to Robin of the Batman series. Well, I have found him and he is doing great work for animals! He was the Caped Crusader…now he is the Canine Crusader!
I had the pleasure of interviewing him for his story in The Pet Tree House. He played Robin in the Batman television series that aired from January 1966 to March 1968.
In 1994, he and his wife, Tracy, founded a charitable organization called Gentle Giants Rescue and Adoptions, Inc., located in Norco, California. They rescue giant breed dogs like Great Danes and some smaller breed dogs. Their work with the organization has been featured in such outlets as People magazine, ASPCA Animal Watch, Hard Copy, Inside Edition, and Entertainment Tonight. Mr. Ward was also seen in an episode of Animal Planet's Adoption Tales.
About Gentle Giants Rescue
We have 45 different traditional and unique breeds from all over the world to choose, all of which are behaviorally trained, easy to handle, great with kids, and socialized with dogs, cats and other animals.
Meet some of the beautiful dogs at the Gentle Giants Rescue! The video below shows 27 of the dogs in the Wards bedroom…or should I say…all over the bedroom!
Rescuing and Adopting
Adronicus Mastiffs, Akbash, Ambull Neapolitan Mastiffs, American Eskimos, American Mastiffs,American Staghounds, Beautiful Great Danes, Bernese Mountain Dogs, Bloodhounds, Borzoi,Brazilian Mastiffs, Bullmastiffs,Chinese Cresteds,Dogue de Bordeaux French Mastiffs, Doodles, Woodles, English Bulldogs, English Mastiffs,Exotic Breeds, Fila Brasileiro, Gentle Giants Buddies,Great Pyrenees, Greyhounds, Ibizan Hounds, Irish Wolfhounds, Italian Greyhound, Leonbergers, Little Giants Combinations, Maremma Sheepdogs, Naffies and Airdanes, Neapolitan Mastiffs Newfoundlands, Peruvian Inca Orchids, Poodles Combinations, Poodles, Labradoodles, Saint Bernards, Saluki, Sasquatch, Scottish Deerhounds, Shelties, Silken Windhounds, South African Boerboel Mastiffs, Spanish Mastiffs, Special Needs Hard of Hearing Dogs and Blind Dogs, Tibetan Mastiffs, Tosa Inu Mastiffs, Unique Combinations,Whippets Xoloitzcuintle
and Other Loving Lap Dogs!
To see Home Videos of these Gentle Giants click HERE.
Ex-Batman Sidekick Now a True Boy Wonder for Dogs in Need
Gentle Giants has Traditional Breeds and Exotic Dogs from Around the World
Burt, Tracy and their family!
A Family Portrait in August 1994 with our daughter, Melody, when we started rescuing Great Danes
Melody sits with her gentle giant friends: "Butkis" a fawn English Mastiff; "Saint Bea" a Saint Bernard; "Snow White" a white English Mastiff puppy; and "Bubba" a giant fawn Great Dane puppy
Adam West and Burt Ward, TV's famed "Batman" and "Robin," provide the voices of "Young Mermaid Man" and "Young Barnacle Boy" in an episode of "SpongeBob Square Pants."
Batman is an American television series, based on the DC comic book character of the same name. It stars Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin — two crime-fighting heroes who defend Gotham City. It aired on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) network for three seasons from January 1966 to March 1968. The show was aired twice weekly for its first two seasons, and 120 episodes were produced in total.
Burt was the world's youngest professional ice skater at age 2
Their website has a wealth of information on feeding and caring for your dog. It has pictures and videos of the beautiful dogs that they rescue. It also includes pictures, articles and videos of Mr. Wade as Robin! Click here to visit their website: Gentle Giants Rescue and Adoptions, Inc.
Deer are famous for "freezing" in the headlight beams of oncoming cars, but for a doe on a rural Michigan highway, there were not only headlights but a mild collision with a car that left it frozen with fear in the middle of the road.
The incident last Friday was captured by the video unit of a patrol car used by Deputy Ryan Swartz of the Huron County Sheriff's Department. Swartz, who was responding to the deer-versus-vehicle call, was unable to coax the doe off the roadway.
When that didn't work Swartz simply carried the deer to one side of the road, then the other, and set the animal down. Eventually it regained its composure and trotted into a field. The entire episode lasted about 10 minutes.
The deputy said that when he first arrived he thought the deer was a decoy because it stood totally motionless. He told local TV Station WNEM TV5, "I figured as I walked up to it, it would just run off the road, but it just stood still. It wasn't moving at all. So I went up and I pet it and I was thinking that would get the deer off the road."
"What he did is certainly not recommended but he felt confident enough because of his many years of experience with deer," stated a news release issued by the Sheriff's Department.
The deputy could have put cones around the doe, called animal control, and said to himself, "I`ve done all that I can." But the compassionate and heroic deputy carried the stunned doe to the side of the road. He then carried it to the other side of the road, after deciding that the deer would be less likely to run back into the street from the opposite side.
Deputy Swartz went beyond the call of duty, and he should be promoted to Sheriff. A law enforcement officer should serve and protect not only people, but also the animals in his jurisdiction.
PETA honors people who go out of their way to help animals, Swartz deserves to receive an award from the animal rights organization.
Why do deer get transfixed by car headlights and just stand there in harm's way?
"Deer are crepuscular," said David Yancy, a deer biologist with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.
Their activity peaks within an hour or so on either side of sunrise and sunset, so their vision is optimized for very low light. When a headlight beam strikes eyes that are fully dilated to capture as much light as possible, deer cannot see at all, and they freeze until the eyes can adjust.
For more information on deer, visit the websites below:
A gentle giant named Hercules proved his worth as a loyal canine companion only six hours after being rescued from an animal shelter and brought home by Lee & Elizabeth Littler last Wednesday.
When dog-lovers Lee and Elizabeth Littler of Hillsboro, Ohio adopted the badly underweight St. Bernard and named him Hercules, they expected they would nurse him back to full health before passing him along to another owner. That was before Hercules made a mad dash out the screen door and chased down a man who had cut the wires to their house and was trying to get into the basement.
Just as the Littlers were preparing to take Hercules outside for a walk Wednesday night, the 135-pound Saint Bernard, who had not made as much as a peep since being adopted that afternoon, started growling, plowed through their screen door and charged after an intruder trying to get into their house through their basement door!
The burglar was able to pull free and get away, probably because Hercules was still weak from the apparent coyote attack that had left him weak and bleeding when he was taken to the pound. Now Lee Littler says, “I think he’s definitely earned a permanent home.”
Moreover, since the first reports of his heroism came out on Friday, Hercules has become an “international sensation,” with his story being retold all over the country and abroad.
Another reason to give a homeless animal a forever home. Adoption is an option! Please consider adoption from your local animal shelter.
For more information on the Saint Bernard, visit the websites below:
I will start off first by identifying the additional toe that your pet has…it is not a toe as I have heard people say, it is call a dewclaw.
What is a Dewclaw?
A dewclaw, commonly referred to as a Dog's thumb, is a vestigial digit on the foot of many mammals, birds, and reptiles (including some extinct orders, like certain theropods). It commonly grows high on the leg so that in digitigrade species, when the animal is standing, it does not make contact with the ground. Dewclaws are perhaps best known in dogs, and they are often removed in young puppies, though there is debate on whether this is necessary.
I was first told about a dewclaw from my vet when I took my puppy to get shots. I asked him why he had an extra toe. He informed me that it was not a toe….”dogs don’t have toes”, he said. Then he got serious and explained what a dewclaw was and that I had the choice to have it removed. Because my dogs fur covered their dewclaws he told me to always call it to the attention of the groomer.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) says, don’t forget to trim your dog’s dewclaws as well. Most dogs just have dewclaws on their front legs, but some dogs have one, and sometimes even two, sets of dewclaws on their rear legs. If your dog doesn’t have dewclaws on his front legs, he had them surgically removed earlier in his life.
What do you if your dogs dewclaw broke and hanging?
Do not pull or cut unless you can see that it is almost not attached. It is preferable to bandage the part of the leg for giving time to it falls by itself.
Veterinarian Chevy Chase, MD
Polydactyl Cats
A polydactyl cat is a cat with a congenital physical anomaly called polydactyly (or polydactylism, also known as hyperdactyly), a type of cat body type genetic mutation that causes the cat to be born with more than the usual number of toes on one or more of its paws. Cats with this genetically inherited trait are most commonly found along the East Coast of North America (in the United States and Canada) and in South West England and Wales.
For more information on Dewclaws, visit the websites below: Undoing the Dewclaw
The Prince George’s County Animal Shelter is having a Supply Drive at two area Sam’s Clubs. One will be at the Annapolis store and the other at the Waldorf store. Both will be on the same day and same time.
Each store will have one animal available for “show” (and possibly adoption), but primarily we are asking store patrons to purchase an item on our designated list (a handout we will give to each customer) for donation to the shelter. There are about 22 items on that list.
If you are unable to attend this event, please consider making a donation to help all of the animals at the shelter. If you would like to donate, click here, Donation Wish List.
Date: Saturday, November 19
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Locations:
SAMS in Annapolis
2100 Generals Hwy.
Annapolis, MD 21401
SAMS in Waldorf
2365 Crain Highway
Waldorf, MD 20601
Did You Know that November is Adopt-a-Senior Month?
November is Adopt-a-Senior Month. Any animal 7years or older is FREE at the Prince George's Co. Animal Shelter. Come down and adopt a Super Senior today!
The handsome dog in the picture below is Toku - ID#A143286, he is looking for a forever home. I am not sure if he will be at the event, however if you are interested in him, you can contact the shelter HERE for information on how to adopt.
Here is some information on Toku:
Toku is a neutered male, tan and black Akita. The shelter staff thinks that he is about 10 years old. He weighs approximately 80 pounds. He has been at the shelter since Oct 29, 2011.
If you have room in your heart and your home and would like to give a homeless animal a forever home, click here to do an Animal Search, you may just find your next best friend!
How appropriate this story is a few weeks before Thanksgiving!
The wild turkeys of Staten Island are multiplying, and getting grouchy! “I’m scared. The turkeys keep coming and coming and coming. They never stop,” said Suloa Perasevic, 37, of Ocean Breeze. “The officials told us last year they would solve this problem, but now it’s a year later and there are more turkeys, not less.”
Perasevic, a handyman, said the feathered pests have gotten so curmudgeonly that he and his wife are afraid to let their two daughters, ages 5 and 1, play in their yard. He purchased a sonar machine to shoo the birds away, but his plan backfired. “ They didn’t mind it one bit,” he said.
Ocean Breeze's turkey terror began in 1999 when a local resident liberated her nine pet birds at nearby South Beach Psychiatric Center
The birds cause major traffic headaches, according to residents.
Fox 5 saw one turkey playing chicken with a car. The bird just stood there, until the driver gave in and went around.
One woman recently said she was trapped in her car after turkeys jumped onto her windshield.
"Sometimes you have to stop you have to wait five to ten minutes at a time, I've seen them here since I was a kid," one man said.
“How stupid can you get? Why do they want to know my feeling about turkeys?” said Fran Russo, 55, who has lived in Ocean Breeze for nearly 25 years. "They can be aggressive. I one time saw a man at the red light taunting a turkey. His window was down and he was making noises at it. Next thing you know the light turned green and the turkey started chasing the car down the street, pecking at it."
Russo has a seasonal idea for turkey control. “They should look out or they will become someone’s dinner,” she said.
Now some residents have taken matters into their own hands. Around Thanksgiving hungry residents can be seen scooping up the turkeys up and driving away with them, according to Russo.
"The turkeys have multiplied since last year. They are street wise. They are city turkeys. They know how to survive," said Russo.
"These turkeys are out of control," said Angela Foster, 63, who first noticed the invasion a decade ago.
Packs of turkeys strut slowly along the tree-lined residential streets near Liberty Ave. and Mason Street.
Standing 2 to 4 feet high, they meander between houses and linger for hours outside some homes.
At Staten Island University Hospital, patients and staff routinely dodge the birds gathered outside the doors.
“I had one under my car last week,” said Mr. Budano, 71, a retired traffic manager for the subways. “I had to chase him out with a broom. But they can become vicious.”
The creatures that have unnerved Mr. Budano, and many of his neighbors, are wild turkeys: scores of them have invaded the streets surrounding the South Beach Psychiatric Center on the eastern shore of Staten Island.
These are the urban sidewalks of New York, residents like to remind visitors, not some rustic patch of woods.
“In New York City you worry about roaches and rats, not turkeys,” Mr. Budano said.
Residents complain that the turkeys eat their shrubs and garden vegetables, frighten small children and snatch cookies out of their hands, wake families up before sunrise and cross the streets in indolent flocks that seem impervious to impatient drivers.
The fact that Thanksgiving is around the corner has elicited about as much compassion as the crows received in the Alfred Hitchcock horror movie “The Birds.”
Not everyone is crying fowl. Some residents welcome the turkeys.
"Everyone complains and complains about all the turkeys," said Neil, 73, who said he considers the turkeys "pets" (wouldn't give last name)"But come Thanksgiving what the first thing all these people will be asking for? Turkey!"
There are roughly 100 turkeys in the neighborhood, according to the DEC, though locals think it might be in the thousands.
City law protects the wild turkeys from hunters so the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is apparently considering taking steps to manage the birds. The DEC has sent out surveys to people in the area to see what they think about the issue.
In Occoquan, Virginia, a missing dog was euthanized without the owner’s permission.
The last time Allen Holmes saw his beloved 17-year-old dog Basie, was when he snapped a photo of her in their yard. He had taken her collar off because it bothered her.
Allen says he was checking on her every 10 minutes. The picture was taken at 12:06 p.m. on November 1st. Fifteen minutes later, Basie was gone. He and his wife searched everywhere, plastering their Occoquan neighborhood with flyers.
"We both thought she could not have left the yard on her own. She was 17 and moved very slowly," said Allen's wife Alison.
The next day, they found her cremated remains at the Fairfax County Animal Shelter. Basie had been euthanized at The Crosspoint Animal Hospital in Fairfax Station just a few hours after she went missing.
They learned a client of Crosspoint said she found the dog wandering in the woods, thought she was a stray, and brought her in.
"To give us no opportunity to be there is horrifyingly wrong. I'm devastated. We both are," said Alison. She doubts any vet could think Basie was a stray since her nails had been clipped and she was very clean. She even had had a tooth extracted recently, Alison said.
A staff person at Crosspoint Animal Hospital told 9News Now that they were acting on instructions from the Fairfax County Animal Shelter when they euthanized the dog. But the Fairfax County Police Department, which oversees Animal Control, says the shelter would never give that advice. Officer Shelly Broderick says the decision to euthanize, was the veterinarian's alone.
Crosspoint's examination report of Basie found several health problems, including respiratory disease and neurologic abnormalities. But it also says she was "alert" and "responsive."
Basie's owners acknowledge she had a number of health issues that they were monitoring, but they do not believe she was ready to go.
Alison said, "Basie died alone with strangers, which is the real tragedy. She was a baby, just a helpless little dog, you know?"
Allen and Alison had called Prince William County Police who sent an officer to investigate. Sgt. Kim Chinn said they found no evidence of a crime and that both the woman who picked up the dog, and the vet appeared to be doing what they thought was right.
To that statement, Allen Holmes noted that even shelters have policies that prohibit euthanizing strays to give owners time to find their pets.
Just as we humans get cataracts, so can our furry family members. Please take time to look at the videos and visit the websites below.
While attending a Love Ball (a Love Ball is an annual fundraiser) for the Montgomery County Humane Society last month, I met a pet owner with a cute little Shih Tzu, I don’t remember her name because I met a lot of dogs that night! I had fun with all the dogs, but this little one caught my attention because she look so much like my Sugar who crossed over the rainbow bridge in 2008.
Her mom told me that she was 15 years old and was recently diagnosed with cataracts. She told me that she was being treated, but had not yet decided on having surgery.
I am not an expert on cataracts in pets, but decided to research the information hoping that someone reading this blog with notice the signs of cataracts in their pet and get them to a vet before the condition worsens.
What Are Cataracts?
A cataract is an opacity in the lens of a dog’s eye, causing him to have blurry vision. If the cataract is small, it won’t likely disturb the dog’s vision too much, but cataracts must be monitored because the thicker and denser they become, the more likely it is they will lead to blindness.
Everyday Wildlife Champion was founded in 2009, and views saving wildlife as an everyday thing. It's doing simple tasks, little by little, to make a huge difference. Follow them on Twitter! http://twitter.com/DawnDishSoap Join them on YouTube! http://youtube.com/dawn
Company Overview - They are sponsored by Dawn, a brand that’s been active in helping save wildlife for 30 years.
Red-tailed Tropicbirds nest throughout the southern Pacific Ocean, from the Hawaiian Islands to Western Australia as well as in the Indian Ocean. They disperse widely after breeding, and birds with numbered leg bands from Hawaii have been discovered as far away as Japan and the Philippines.
To catch their prey in the wild, mostly flying fish and squid, the tropicbird flies high into the air and dives with wings half-folded into the water. However, in aviaries they cannot fly high enough to plunge for food, and consequently remain sitting on the water and must be force-fed.
The bird has been in quarantine in its own private pool at International Bird Rescue’s Los Angeles Wildlife Center in San Pedro, and has now passed all of its required health tests and has been approved for release.
For more information on Everyday Wildlife Champions and the Red-Tailed Tropicbirds, visit the websites below:
Friendship Hospital for Animals is proud to announce the launch of their mobile veterinary service, “Friendship To Go!” In-home services include wellness exams, vaccinations, heartworm/parasite prevention, sick pet care, end-of-life care/euthanasia. Call us today to learn more about Friendship To Go or to arrange an at-home visit. 202-363-7300
Washington, DC — The Washington Humane Society (WHS) has named Dr. Megan McAndrew as the animal welfare organization’s new Medical Director. She will use her extensive veterinary and wildlife knowledge and experience to better serve DC’s animals in need.
“Dr. McAndrew brings a strong set of skills and a wealth of passion to this position, which she will use to help WHS save more lives,” says Lisa LaFontaine, CEO, Washington Humane Society. “Her diverse and deep experience with both domestic and wild animals make her a tremendous asset to WHS and the community.”
Most recently, Dr. McAndrew served as primary veterinarian at Austin Pets Alive! in Texas, where she provided wellness, medical, surgical and critical care for the organization’s foster and resident animals; client education; and animal medical care to the community. Prior, Dr. McAndrew served as a veterinarian with Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation.
In 2009, she assisted the City of Arlington, the Humane Society of North Texas and the SPCA of Texas with the investigation, seizure and subsequent emergency medical care of animals from U.S. Global Exotics during the largest animal confiscation in U.S. history. In addition, Dr. McAndrew has conducted research and served as an intern with numerous organizations including Cheetah Outreach, Banfield Pet Hospital and National Parks Service.
Dr. McAndrew holds a doctorate of veterinary medicine with a focus in zoological medicine from North Carolina State College of Veterinary Medicine, and a bachelor of zoological science from North Carolina State University, where she graduated as valedictorian.
Dr. McAndrew resides in Maryland with her seven rescue animals: four dogs, Risa, Amy, Brodie and Toto, and three cats, Connor, Bella and Lucy. In her free time, she enjoys dancing, hiking, reading and spending time with family.
